NAILED IT.... Sort Of

 

 THIS awesome yumminess is what I had for dessert tonight thanx to my super awesome Pampered Chef lady.  Why that is important is because not only did she share the original recipe for this low-cal dessert that I "frankenfixed" with my de-glutening super hero powers, but she also supplied me with THAT AWESOME square brownie pan that I love so much and use for EVERYTHING!  I have used this thing for mini single serve quiches, bacon bowl breakfast cups, single serve lasagna and, of course, brownies.  But THIS wonderful decadence is by far my best masterpiece!!!!

 

My Pampered Chef lady posted on her facebook page a recipe for a 33 CALORIE CHEESECAKE!  And added, "Let the Brownie Pan help you with your New Years Resolution!"  Well I immediately noticed that the recipe contains sugar and gluten.... the two things I swore to avoid as my New Year's resolution, but I have the pan so away I went "frankenfixing" this recipe.  My gluten free, low sugar changes are in PINK:

 

 INGREDIENTS:
3/4 Cup nonfat cottage cheese...
2/3 cup nonfat plain yogurt (I used Chobani Greek Yogurt... higher in protein)
1 TBS flour (I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour)
2 TBS sugar (I used Truvia Baking blend.  When using Truvia, go to 3 Tbsp. TRUST ME)
1/4 tsp salt
4 egg whites
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
1/2 cup assorted fresh berries (I used frozen organic cherries)

(I added 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract)

 DIRECTIONS:
1. Place all ingredients except for eggs and fruit in the blender or food processor and whip until the batter is smooth.
2. Now add the eggs and give it a few pulses.
3. Finally, add the fruits and gently mix them in with a spoon. Do NOT blend!
4. Spray the bottom of your pan with some cooking spray or lightly cover with oil. (I used coconut oil)
5. Pour the batter in.
6. Place the pan into your oven which should be set at 350 degrees. The suggested time for cooking is around 30 minutes (I baked 40-45 see below) but check frequently to make sure the cheesecake does not brown or dry out.
7. When done, serve either super hot straight out of the oven or chilled in the fridge. Enjoy!

8.  Because I only used 2 Tbsp. of Truvia, my cheesecake wasn't very sweet so I made a compote to put over top using 1/2 C. frozen cherries, 1/2 C. water and 2 Tbsp. Truvia.  I simply heated all three ingredients until I got a cherry syrup.  That sweetened up this dessert nicely.  TURNED OUT PERFECT.... but it was touch and go for a second.... keep reading.

 One more great use for the "brownie" pan #1544 ($19).

 

So here are a couple more pics during the test kitchen process....

 

 

So I filled the wells to just over 3/4 full and BOY did they rise.  I thought maybe I had goofed and filled the wells too high but nope....

 

 

When these babies are done they tell you because they shrink, the edges turn a beautiful golden brown and pull away from the sides of the wells.  I could have used this little bit of info because I ate one of the cheesecakes after pulling them out of the oven at the 30 minute baking mark and the cake was not cake at all.... it was flan.  NOT what I was expecting.  I thought for sure I messed it up with my "frankenfixes", but it turns out that another 10 minutes in the oven and these babies were PERFECT.... well, sort of.  The next time I make these I will be sure to use the 3 Tbsp. of Truvia instead of 2 that way I can nix the compote. But the compote gave it JUST what it needed to be PERFECTION!!!!  This one is DEFINITELY a test kitchen SUCCESS!!!! 

 

A million HIGH FIVES to my awesome Pampered Chef Lady and to ALL the Pampered Chef folks out there who really do help put us back into the kitchen and make it easier!  Turns out this post goes quite nicely with my blog post from earlier today.  That was not planned, I swear! LOL!